Slaughter the Lamb
by Dawn ofthe Dead
Summary: AU Edward is a more traditional vamp. No yellow eyes, no sparkles, and no mind reading. He catches an appetizing scent while in the Balkans for St. George Day. Written as an example for The Darkward Vamp Fic Contest. See my profile for contest link.
1. Chapter 1

**Example entry for the Darkward Fanfic Contest****  
Darkward Fanfic Contest**  
**Title: Slaughter the Lamb  
Penname: Dawn ofthe Dead  
Beta: Lucylu0508  
Disclaimer: All things Twilight belong to Stephanie Meyer and I'd like to apologize in advance to any Roma people or anyone who celebrates St. George Day who read this. I pulled this together after research on the internet, so please remember that it's fiction and don't crucify me if I get some stuff wrong.**

All my friends are dancing the oro  
Dancing the oro, celebrating the day  
All the Roma mommies  
All the Roma dads, dads

All the Roma, oh mommy  
All the Roma dads, dads

Ederlezi, Ederlezi

All the Roma mommies  
All the Roma dads slaughter lambs  
But me, poor, I am sitting apart

A Romany day, our day  
Our day, Ederlezi  
They give dad a lamb for us  
All the Roma dads slaughter lambs  
All the Roma dads, dad  
All the Roma, oh mommy  
All the Roma dads, dads

Ederlezi, Ederlezi

-_Ederlezi_, Bijelo dugme

The Roma people of Bulgaria were celebrating St. George Eve, _Ederlezi_ they called it. The streets were crowded with frolicking children and their drunken parents. Bonfires had been started and dancing had begun, bands of men carrying accordions, drums and guitars paraded through the streets, playing music. In the small, poor section of an already small town, the cacophony rose in celebration of the coming spring and the rebirth of nature. They had no inkling that death stalked among them in tourist's clothing, waiting for one of them to fall prey to deathly charms and be lured away.

I am a vampire and I am everything you would expect a vampire to be and then some; my incisors are long and sharp, all of my senses are extraordinarily keen, I have more than triple the strength of men twice my size. I am beautiful to human eyes, I am walking seduction and I drink the blood of the living to sustain myself. I have not seen the sunlight in over eighty years. My throat burns constantly; some days a dull ache, others a crippling pain, but it is always present in some capacity. From the shadows, I watched my family grieve for the loss of me, I watched their hardships and their happiness, unable to participate in either, and I watched them wither and die. I have traveled the world and seen sights humans can only dream of, but I have done so without my humanity. I am above mortals, the next plane of evolution and, yet, closer to a beast. Many years ago, I accepted what I had become: a monster and an animal. I embraced it and found comfort in knowing my place in the world. I traveled alone, I hunted alone, and I would always be alone.

I have had brief encounters with my own kind and even belonged to a family for a time, but too many vampires in one place can cause quite a stir, leading vampires to be very nomadic. There are, of course, those of the walking dead whose change was... less than stellar. These poor souls are condemned to an eternity of insanity, at least until they are found and staked. They tend to hang around their old homes, places they remember. They are the ones your legends are based on. Legends like the idea that we consort with the devil, drink blood from cattle and are most active on St. George Day. The irony of my being in the Balkans on St. George Eve, hunting, was wholly amusing to me. Garlic and crosses would be hung in doorways and around necks, and neither would do a bit of good against me.

I left my hotel as soon as the sun had set. Strolling through the town and smiling at people I passed, I was careful to keep my teeth hidden away. There was no reason to start scaring people off so early in the evening and fangs always seemed to instill fear.

The people of the _mahala_ had been drinking all day and the stench of cheap liquor mixed with their homemade wines flooded the streets. Inebriation would make them more susceptible to my charms, but it also made the blood taste off, tainted. I could lure drunkards away from their festival like a sailor to a siren's song, but the taste made it worth my while to expended the small bit of extra effort and take a sober individual.

Her scent infiltrated my nose before I ever laid eyes on her. It had the decided markings of a tourist, hotel shampoo and the faint hint of dryer sheets, but beyond that was tantalizing strawberries and a remarkable florid mix too intoxicating and elemental to be perfume. She was standing across the small, dirt street from me, giggling at some children dancing an oro. The girl couldn't have been more than eighteen, with wide innocent eyes and the most appetizing smell I had ever encountered. I smiled and marked her as my target. A young girl, wandering the streets of a poor town alone could easily go missing and never be found. The lackluster police force would hardly look for her, writing her off as a runaway, and her parents would eventually give up their hope. In that moment, just standing there, enjoying the entertainment of Roma children, she became mine, body and blood.

I stalked her through out the evening, intrigued by her movements and her interests. Such a young, delicate thing had no business being out so late in a place so obviously foreign to her. If it wasn't for her pale, freckled skin and her round Anglo-Saxon face, one may have mistaken her for a local. She had the long, dark hair and brown eyes of the Roma people, but those same eyes also gave her away. She stared at everything in wonderment, soaking in this little town as if she had never seen anything like it and I'm sure she hadn't in America. Even the most poverty stricken American ghettos had nothing on the _mahala_ of Kyustendil.

Long, brown curls fell to just past her elbows, with little bits cut shorter to frame around her pretty face. Wide eyes, an indescribable shade of brown, were set in to a rounded face with big, plump cheeks still layered with baby fat. The thin, dark blue tank top she wore stretched taut over her breasts and showed me the lines of her bra while exposing inches upon inches of her chest to me. Her shoulders and arms were gangly and a little awkward, which only added to her attractiveness in a strange way, made her interesting to look at. In contrast, her legs were beautifully shaped and I would venture that they were down right sinful in a pair of heels. Those pretty legs lead up a delectable ass and swells of hips with which no girl so slender should be blessed. She was beautiful.

She had an expensive camera dangling around her neck and stopped often to take pictures of houses or dancers, taking in the festival through her lens. I came to realize she had quite the sharp eye for photos. Even without seeing the stills on her wide screen, I knew she had captured some very poignant visuals. It intrigued me that one so young could have the emotional and mental capabilities to capture such images. I found myself wondering what had led this darling child to a shitty little town in Eastern Europe, alone with her camera, to be my meal.

My lamb had just snapped a picture of two men juggling fruits when a long haired Roma boy approached her. The blush that lit up her cheeks when he complimented her in broken English and offered her a drink from a mug inflamed my throat. All the warm, delicious red just under her cheeks taunted me, called to me. I contemplated taking her then. It would have been easy to lure her away from the boy with my beauty and voice. I imagined her petite body under me, moving and moaning as I penetrated both her throat and her womanhood. It was an agreeable thought, but if this boy could tell the police she went with a man, obviously not a local, and then disappeared, they would be more apt to search for her. I had to exercise patience and control to catch my little one.

The boy pushed the mug in to one of her hands and she sipped it tentatively before she smiled, nodding at him. He wanted to take her down the street to a bonfire. He said he had a friend who could speak English, that he wanted to sit with her and tell her about Kyustendil and _Ederlezi_. When my foolish little girl agreed, he took her other hand in his and lead her down the street. The savage within me railed against letting this little imbecile touch what was mine as I followed them. Briefly, I thought of killing him too for the indiscretion, but one missing youth would enough for this place. Two would cause a bigger stir than I was willing to risk.

They stopped at a bonfire a few blocks away and he kept a hold of her hand. Around a small fire in a dug out pit, four other boys sat, joking in Romani and drinking. I knew immediately something was wrong here. The air was too hostile. Despite their jovial appearance, the muscles in the boys' backs and arms were too tense, as if ready to spring. The relaxed, merry atmosphere that hung over the rest of the village was absent here. Aside from these boys, myself, that which belonged to me and a few stray dogs, no other soul was present. This was no place for the girl. These boys had dark intentions, I was sure. Still, I watched and waited, like the predator that I was, vigilant for the first sign that I could take my game back from these delinquents.

Most of the boys spoke broken English, but one, who was taller and older than the rest, spoke the language more fluently. He helped the girl joke and converse with the rest of the group. The more she drank from the mug, the clumsier her movements became until the long-haired boy helped her sit down in the dirt next to the fire. Her giggles had become more pronounced and she leaned back on one hand to steady herself. Despite the alcohol coursing through her system, her scent remained just as delectable and tempting. I hoped her taste wouldn't be too diluted by the drink. Eventually, she set the cup aside and I found hope that I could wait for her to sober a bit, restoring the flavor of her blood to full potency. I had never encountered such an appetizing smell before and wished to make the most of the experience.

I was a bit obsessed with this girl without an inclination as to why. True, she seemed somewhat different, more sweet, than the majority of girls her age, but I had little doubt that she was just as dull and shallow. Good, virtuous people did not exist in this world anymore. Purity and kindness died out a long time when the world was younger and less high tech.

The long haired boy and the oldest boy sat on either side of her, too close for my comfort, and one began stroking her arm slowly. As his dark fingers trailed up and down her skin, my lamb clearly began to realize something was off. His touch was uninvited, yet naivety and her drunkenness left her unable to call him off. She looked around and found herself alone in a strange place, with strange males and the fetidness of fear radiated off her. The forward, brash actions of these pigs gave me my opportunity to steal her away.

Turning the corner I had been hiding behind, I approached the group with sure, quick steps. "Bella," I called the name I had heard her give the long haired boy before. "There you are! I've been looking for you."

When my lamb looked up at me, her eyes were huge with relief and then confusion. Her thought process was nearly perceptible while she pieced together what was happening. I gave her my most innocent smile to soothe her. She stood slowly, trying to keep steady and moved towards me. Out of the frying pan and in to the fire, pet.

The boys scowled as I wrapped one arm around her waist and helped support her slender frame. Up close her scent was nearly overwhelming. "Are you all right, love?" I smoothed a hand over her soft hair, pushing down the small wisps that stood out. Bella only nodded numbly at me and I lead her away from the boys.

"That was very stupid, you know; wandering off with boys you don't know," I told her as we walked out of the _mahala_, towards the nicer parts of town. Oh, if only my little one could realize how much more danger she was in by leaving with me.

"I know. I don't know what I was thinking." She shook her head, appearing a little steadier on her feet. I still kept ahold of her, inhaling her scent with deep breaths, enchanted by the taste of it on my tongue. "Thank you for helping me."

"Where are you parents? You are much too young to be out here alone." I could feel her tense in my arms as I spoke.

"They are in Sofia. I came here to take pictures of the festival. I'm going back to them in the morning." Her voice held the surly tones of a child on the cusp of adulthood, clamoring to be independent of her parents. She eyed me speculatively. "And you can't be much older than me. Where are your parents?" A thin, well manicured eyebrow rose.

Smirking, I shrugged. "I've been on my own for a long time. Are you staying at the Strimon?"

Just as she was calming from my unintended insult, she went rigid in my clutches again. "How do you know where I'm staying?" My dear was wising up.

Laughing quietly, I moved my arm from around her. She was walking fine by herself and I didn't want to frighten her anymore than she was already. "I don't, but I'm guessing from your expensive camera that you are. Besides, the locals don't exactly wear khakis." I motioned toward the tan Bermuda shorts encasing her buxom hips. The Strimon Spa Club was the best hotel in Kyustendil, it made sense for her to stay there.

That beautiful blush flooded her cheeks. Ah, she was embarrassed. Was it because she thought she had been rude or because of her obvious wealth? And why did I care? "Oh... yes, that's where I'm staying. Yourself?"

I nodded, even though I wasn't. The lie allowed me to continue walking with her, though.

While we moved through the crowded streets she asked for my name and I honestly told her it was Edward. Normally I used a fake name with my victims. They didn't deserve to know me, but this little one made me react completely different than I ever had before. She never asked me how I knew her name, stupid lamb.

As I coerced her in to opening up about her life, she expected the same of me. She didn't babble incessantly as most females did when asked to speak of themselves, with Bella the conversation was a two way street. I learned that her parents were a freelance photography team and they brought her with them when they traveled, then she asked me about my parents. She told me her mother and father were in Sofia photographing the larger St. George festival there, then asked me why I decided to come to Bulgaria. Bella told me that she had been home schooled by her mother and laughed at my surprise before asking me about my own education. She had been practically baptized with developer chemicals in a darkroom, a camera of some sort in her hands since she possessed the motor function to point and listened intently to each one of my lies, never once guessing that while she spilled the details of her life to me, I was repaying her with falsehoods.

I was taken aback by her interest in my life and me. It made things only slightly more difficult since I had to come up with lies to tell her, but my mind worked more quickly than a human's and I was able to keep up the flow of conversation. Every time I attempted to turn the conversation back on her, she found a way to include me.

As we reached the lobby of the hotel and the elevator, she asked for my floor. With a sly smile, I waited for the elevator doors to slide closed on us and pushed her against the wall, trapping her with my body. She was tense and trembling against me as I ran my nose along the flesh of her neck. She was not afraid; the smell of her desire permeated the stale air of the elevator car and was, if possible, more thrilling than the liquid pulsing through her veins. That close to her throbbing artery, I could imagine the taste of her blood as it glided so smoothly down my throat. The smell of her wetness and blood combined with the scorching feel of her warm body pinned by mine caused my body to react in multiple ways. Saliva and venom had been draining down my throat since I rescued her from the locals, but now it pooled in my mouth, my eyeteeth itched with the urge to bite her and my cock grew hard against her. I knew she could feel my excitement pressed to her stomach. "Bella, let me come to your room tonight. You are so beautiful and I just... I want to kiss you, Bella. May I?"

She stared up at me a moment and nodded slowly. Cradling her face in my hands, I kissed her gently once, twice, three times. After the third kiss, her plush lips began pressing back. On my fourth kiss, I ran my tongue along the seam of her lips and she gasp, allowing my tongue to slide in and meet hers. I felt her hands on my hips, creeping under my shirt and stroking very lightly on my stomach. The brave, stupid little vixen moaned and pushed her tongue in to my mouth. When I lifted her, she wrapped her legs around my waist and ground her heat against my stomach. I could feel the warmth through my t-shirt.

I was beginning to wish I could take from my lamb and leave her alive; that I could drink from her during the throes of her passion and tomorrow she would never know it. To kill something so good and pleasant would be a crime against humanity, but my thirst wouldn't let me break away. I would have this girl and she would die. Perhaps her parents would then learn to keep something so valuable closer to them.

It had only been seconds since we had begun our kiss and she was thoroughly exploring my mouth with the gusto of one unsullied and new to kissing, and I wondered how chaste she truly was, relishing the thought of virgin blood. In her fervor, Bella grazed her tongue over one of my fangs and dripped that delicious blood right in to my mouth. She tried to pull away with a muffled shriek, but it was already over. I had tasted her and I would have her. Now. Giving no thought to consoling her growing fear, I tightened my arms around her and sucked from the wound on her tongue. Her blood was everything the scent had promised; it was fruity, yet spicy and so quenching. For the first time in nearly a hundred years, I didn't feel the ache in my throat, like her blood coated it and put out the fire. I moaned in to her mouth. The lamb's small fists hit my shoulders and neck, she attempted to push away from me and to scream, all of it in vain. Releasing her mouth from mine, I placed a firm hand across her lips. "If you scream, I will kill you and it will be painful."

Wide brown eyes filled with tears and terror as she nodded. I could feel her heart hammering behind her breastbone and her lungs drawing air in and out quickly. She was realizing that the handsome tourist hero turned Romeo was something different from anything she had ever known, something dangerous and strong and something that was going to kill her.

I hoisted her up from my torso and tossed her over my shoulder as the bell dinged, indicating her floor. When the door opened, I moved in a flash down the thankfully deserted hallway, her warm tears staining my t-shirt.

"Which room is yours?"

"1512," she whispered, choking on quiet sobs.

My fingers stroked across her back pocket and procured her room key. Just a slip of the little card and I was all alone with her. Finally. I locked the door and flipped the bolt before settling her on the couch of her suite. Her face was blotchy and red from crying, not at all attractive like her blush, and her whole body trembled, not with want like before, but with pure fear. I could still taste her in my mouth; the temptation to just drain her was strong. She would probably be the most glorious thing I would taste for a very long time. Perhaps there was good reason to come out on St. George Day.

"What are you," she asked, staring up at me, a curious mixture of fear, defiance and intrigue swirling through her expressive, tear-filled eyes. It was a far cry from the normal response I received from a human when questioning my species, especially moments before their deaths. They tended to do their best not to look at me, shying their eyes away as if I were some deity to worship. It made me sick, the common dullards thinking their respect could dissuade me from draining them. If anything their pathetic pleas only made me despise them more. The world was a cruel place with no room for weak-bellied cowards and I was nature's warped way of enforcing the survival of the fittest rule. No, my little lamb just peered up at me, her inquisitive mind churning, yearning to learn, despite her fear.

I laid myself across a seat, legs draped over an arm of the chair and smiled a full toothy smile. "I am a vampire."

She began drying her eyes with her palms and stared down at the floor, concentrating. I could only imagine the thoughts whirling through her brain. After my little display in the elevator, I imagined she had to have already suspected, but hearing these things out loud always threw people for a loop. It probably would be a little disconcerting to learn a creature that you had been told was a figment of your imagination, of Hollywood, of scary stories, is actually quite real and under your bed. Or, like this case, in your hotel room. To her credit, she handled it better than most. No screaming, no hysterical crying, only a calm sort of acceptance. She had a capacity for logical thought that was beyond her years and it seemed to be carrying her through this nightmare with grace. It was impressive. It would make her death quick and painless.

Truly, I hated to end such a creature, but what was done was done. Perhaps if I had never tasted her on the elevator, perhaps if she had never strayed from her parents. Perhaps, perhaps, perhaps. The fact of the matter was, she had left her parents and came to Kyustendil, she smelled that god damned appetizing and I had tasted her in the elevator. Now she knew and I could never let her leave this room alive.

"You are going to drink my blood." Her voice did not quiver with the fear I knew she felt.

I chuckled. Oh, yes, I was most definitely going to partake of her blood. "Yes."

"Are you going to kill me?"

"Yes, I don't have much choice. You know what I am. It would not be wise to let you go."

"Probably is not yes. I can keep a secret." Oh, dear. My little lamb thought she could bargain her way out of this.

"That may be true, little one, but dead men tell no tales. And I am hungry." I wasn't sure why I kept playing this game with her. I should have spilled her blood already. I could hear it rushing through her veins, tempting me. The whole damned room was permeated with her luscious smell. Her face was calm, contemplative. I cocked my head, waiting to see what she would come up with next.

"Couldn't you just take a little bit and leave? Not kill me?" She folded her legs underneath her, looking so sweet and childlike while she negotiated her death.

"It doesn't work that way, my lamb. If it did, I would taste you and leave you, for you are quite darling. But, alas, c'est la vie."

"So, you're going to kill me, no matter what?"

I nodded.

She was quiet again as her cheeks heated, turning a gorgeous shade of red, and her teeth began to worry her supple lip.

"Tell me, Bella, what are you thinking?"

"I'd like to ask you for a favor." Her graceful fingers began to fidget in her lap.

"You can ask." I raised an eyebrow. This girl certainly had a backbone made of steel. It's not everyday the gazelle asked the lion for a favor.

"Have sex with me?" Her whole face and neck were a delicious blush now, but her eyes were hopeful and determined.

Her unexpected request drew a laugh from me. Were my kind really so attractive that this sweet girl's only thought in the face of death was getting me between her legs?

"Do you have a necrophilia fetish?" I smirked.

"No, but I've only been with one man before and it wasn't exactly... satisfying." She cleared her throat and sat up a little straighter. "So, if you're going to take my life, the least you can do is give me one good experience before I go. Call it a farewell gift." She smiled at her own joke.

I studied her while I pondered her request. Fucking a warm, beautiful woman would certainly be no skin off my nose and I would be able to have her blood while her wet, warm body clenched around me, like I had fantasized. Who was I to say no to such a query? Truly, the only thing that could sweeten the pot was if she could offer me her virginity. Still though, she was young and dear, with only the knowledge of one man, or more likely, one boy. One boy who did not even make her feel all the wonders her body could hold. Could she honestly want the last thing she experienced in the world to be a cold, dead man filling her?

"Why would you make such a request?" I stared at her, trying to understand her, wishing I could draw her secrets out to the light with my eyes.

Her eyes dropped to her lap and she shrugged. "Vampires are supposed to be very sexual creatures. I figured if anyone could make me feel passion, it'd be you." She pulled her gaze back up to me. "Look, I know I'm probably more plain than women you are used to being with, but... just, please." Her lip slid back in between her teeth.

Plain? The silly child had no clue what she was talking about. She was far from plain. She was a tantalizing beauty, far too perfect for any mortal male to put his hands on. It gave me an odd sense of pleasure to know no lowlife fool would be able to put his hands on her once I was done. "My sweet Bella, you are an astounding treasure." In a blink of an eye, I was sitting next to her on the couch.

"Very well, my lamb. I will give you this farewell gift, as you call it." I ran my tongue up the shell of her ear, grinning as she shuddered.

She was nervous, but I could still smell her wetness from the elevator and it was growing stronger by the second. Cradling her head in one of my hands I tilted it away, baring more of her neck to me. The skin was soft and fragrant under my soft nips and wandering tongue. Quiet gasps and whimpers filled the silence and I brought my lips back to her ear.

"Ah, little Bella, I can smell you, how excited you are for me." My other hand trailed from her knee up her thigh, stroking the smooth khaki. "Let go of your lip. I want to hear every noise I draw from you."

Her teeth immediately released her lip and she uncrossed her legs, sitting her feet flat on the floor. "Can you really smell... that?"

The red that had faded to a light pink came back full force and I groaned. "Pet, you will have to stop doing that. It makes you too tempting. And, yes, I can." I pressed my face in to her heated neck and inhaled. "You smell divine."

Bella pulled away a little and turned to face me, pressing her soft lips against mine, tongue flicking out against my mouth. I opened my mouth to her and pulled her to me, forcing her to straddle my hips. Her kisses were sweet and probing, her tongue experimenting in my mouth, but careful to stay away from my eyeteeth. Her slender body squirmed on top of me, her hips seeking out the friction she didn't know she desired. Taking a hold of her hips, I pushed her down and rocked her over my cock, showing her how to move to pleasure us both. Hot, breathy moans infiltrated my mouth. "Oh, god, oh..."

I laughed and pushed her a little more quickly. "What, my pet? Tell me."

"Edward, that feels... oh... amazing."

"Mmmm, I know. For me, as well."

Her nimble fingers tangled in my hair and she opened her eyes to me, the warm brown darkened to a deep, melted chocolate. "Really?"

"Oh, yes, darling. And it will get better."

"I can't imagine..." She tilted her head back, soaking in every tremor I made her feel.

"Well, let me show you." I stood easily with her wrapped around me and took her to the bedroom. I laid her back on the bed and pushed her legs away from my hips. My little Bella watched my every motion, human-paced for her, as I peeled her tank top off revealing some push-up contraption that simply looked uncomfortable. "Tsk, tsk, my lamb. This looks far too inhospitable for your lovely breasts." I slipped a finger underneath the fabric between the cups and pulled just slightly. The cloth fell open for me and Bella gasp as I smelled her arousal increase. Chuckling, I pushed the tatters of her bra aside and stroked the curves of her chest.

"Did you like that, pet? I think my strength excites you." I ran a finger over a raised, tight nipple and she closed her eyes, shuddering as she nodded.

"Gorgeous." I licked one as I pulled her ruined garment away.

They were beautiful. They were smallish, but high and full. They had a lovely curve and weight to them that looked perfect against the slope of her abdomen. Faint red lines stretched under them where her bra had dug into her flesh. I ran my tongue along the line, letting the coolness soothe it while her hips lifted from the bed towards me.

"My impatient little one," I laughed and lowered myself on top of her, letting her accept me in to the cradle of her hips. I laid kisses to her neck and bare chest, sliding slowly down her body. I kissed each hardened nipple and bit her gently, scratching my fangs over her skin and loving the way she writhed under me. I laved each protruding rib as she arched, her body acting on pure instinct. While kneeling on the floor, between her legs, I peppered her navel and stomach with small, biting kisses and removed her sandals. My fingers made quick work of her shorts, pulling them down her shapely legs until they joined her shoes, abandoned on the floor.

Bella was pure sex and innocence, spread for me in only her lacey panties, legs hanging off the edge of the bed, and her arms up next to her head, one hand twisting the ends of her hair around her fingers. Before I thought to contain myself, I growled. I couldn't wait to push my cock inside her and feel her bouncing on top of me.

I pulled my t-shirt off and rubbed my hands up her thighs. "Tell me, Bella, this boy who did not satisfy you before, did he touch you like this?" My fingers ran across her covered pussy, pressing delicately over her clit.

"N-no.." Her stammering was adorable.

"You sound uncertain, pet." I nuzzled her thigh and continued stroking her sex.

"He touched me there, but it felt..." she sighed, "different."

"Did he taste you?" Her scent had been dancing on my tongue since I took her pants off, teasing me with her flavor. How any man could have come this close to her pussy and not put his mouth on it was a mystery to me.

With wide eyes, she shook her head.

"What a pity for him." I removed her panties and slipped one of her legs over my shoulder. Bella's whole body was tense, her little hands fisted in the covers. I kissed her pelvic bone.

"Calm down, my pet. I can make you feel extraordinary things."

She calmed down a bit and I spread her folds with two of my fingers. Pale skin and neat, dark curls framed the glistening, bubble-gum pink flesh exposed to me. Wetness coated her lips and hair and thighs. The smell made my head spin. With one arm across her lower belly, I licked her in long, slow motions. Above me, Bella cried out my name and my cock throbbed in time with her heart. My ears filled with nothing but her moans and cries and the blood coursing through her body. Thin fingers left the blanket and found purchase in my hair, trying to tug me closer.

Bella was so, so wet for me. Her essence coated my mouth and cheeks as I lapped her up with greed, focusing on her clit. It only took a few moments before she was clenching and shaking, eyes squeezed closed as she called out, incoherently babbling. I rested my head against her leg while she calmed down. When her shake had subsided somewhat, I got on the bed with her and kissed her. When our mouths parted, she tentatively leaned forward and licked my cheek, tasting herself.

"You are very dangerous, little coquette."

"No, I believe you are the dangerous one. How could a 'little lamb' like me be threatening to a vampire?"

My growl rumbled deep in my chest as she rose up on her knees, letting her hands explore my chest. Her fingers roamed over my nipples, brushing them gently before she moved her hands down the button on my pants. I helped her unbutton them and slide them down. She seemed mildly surprised I wore no undergarments, but I had always found them irritating and useless. My cock was harder than I could ever remember and the relief she brought with her soft touch as she stroked me timidly was phenomenal. I moaned and laid back, letting her lead this. I closed my eyes and felt her shift on the mattress, hoping she would put her mouth on me. I could hardly imagine the pleasure of feeling her insistent little tongue moving against my dick.

In a short, sudden stroke, her tongue rubbed against my head and it was heavenly.

"Does it excite you? That I'm a vampire?" Bella's hands continued her explorations, stroking and caressing me. She grinned wickedly up at me and nodded a little.

"I think it does. The danger of it... it's a little intoxicating." She looked back down at my dick again, contemplative.

"Have you ever sucked cock before, little Bella?"

She shook her head and scooted off the bed to kneel between my legs. "Show me what to do."

Nothing on the face of this planet had ever been more empowering, more desirable, than Bella kneeling by me, asking me to teach her fellatio. That I would be the first to feel her wanton little mouth pleased me to no end. It did gall me a bit, though, that some fumbling boy had lain between her thighs, yet not taken the time to teach her how he could otherwise please her or how to return pleasure to him.

I sat up and cupped my hand around the back of her head. The other positioned my cock at her lips. "All right, my lamb, open your hot little mouth." Her lips parted and I pushed my head in. Bella promptly closed her lips and swirled her tongue all around me.

"Oh fuck, yes. That's so good." It took an amazing amount of control to not thrust forward in to her mouth. Gently, I pushed her head forward and further down my length before pulling to let her know when to come back up.

"That's so good my pet. Your mouth feels amazing on my cock." Bella settled into a slow rhythm and I wrapped one of her hands around the base, showing her how to stroke in time with her sucking. She was a fast learner and soon I was simply leaning back and enjoying watching her. Bella's free hand, which had been resting on my thigh, moved to cup her pussy. I watched, hissing as she began touching herself.

"Mmm, Bella, my sweet girl, watching you finger your pussy is the most beautiful sight I've ever beheld." Her cheeks lit up faintly, but she kept up both ministrations. When she opened her big brown eyes and peered up at me, I had to stop her. Her slow, teasing suck was driving me to madness. I needed to be buried in her when I came.

"Come here, lamb." I pulled her on to the bed with me and laid back, letting her sit on top of me. "I'm ready to fuck you."

Any traces of the shy girl I had followed all evening was gone. Bella lifted herself slightly and maneuvered to slide down over my cock. We had to move slowly; me filling her inch by inch, her rocking slowly to move down further, but it was the sweetest torture and finally she surrounded me entirely, her tightness squeezing my cock.

"Yes! Move your hips like before, when we were on the couch." I stoked her breasts while she began a shy, rolling motion with her hips. She felt glorious and warm, but it was not enough. I needed to move harder, faster. The more she moved above me, the more I could feel her pussy relaxing and without warning, I flipped us.

Her back was pressed into the mattress with my weight on top of her. Bella's eyes widened, but her body responded quickly. Her legs locked around my hips, her hands griping my biceps as she kept moving her hips. While it was still slower than I wanted, my thrusts became more insistent, hasty. The sound of our skin hitting while I moved inside her mixed with our grunts and moans, and filled the room.

The artery in her neck was pulsing hard. I could see it moving underneath her skin, pounding with the effort of pushing blood through the veins down to her racing heart. The organ was practically vibrating in her chest it was going so fast. Her fingers were clawing at my arms and back and when she threw her head back to cry out while she came, I snapped. Her body clamped all around me, my name leaving her lips in gratified cries and the blood lust I'd been bottling up all night came to a head and exploded out of me. I ripped in to the sweaty throat beneath me with a savagery unknown to me, tearing a large hole instead of the usual two small puncture wounds.

Hot, red and fragrant her blood flooded out. It coated my face and throat as I swallowed mouthfuls of it. A lot spilled out on the bed, but her body housed an ample amount of blood, I would hardly miss what was wasted. My body moved quicker and quicker still, pushing deeper and harder. I faintly recognized her dying gasps and gurgles and the sound of bone splintering filtering through the haze, but none of it registered.

When I came back to myself I was alone in a hotel room, covered in blood, with a very dead lamb.

My phone rang from my pants. The ringtone was Coldplay's Glass of Water. Alice.

* * *

BPOV

The pain was sharp and stinging, but I could still feel his lips at my neck, drawing more and more blood out. I tried to keep quiet, to keep some dignity and not beg him to stop. It hurt so very much. Tears leaked down my face, but they just combined with the blood pouring from my neck and disappeared.

The room grew dimmer and dimmer until all I could see was the darkness. Noises flitted in and out of my ears, obscured and swirling, like I was under water. I heard Edward's beautiful, calm voice, but not what he was saying. Something cold was stroking on my arms and hair, pressing against my forehead.

I wanted to call out to him, to ask him to finish this, but my throat wouldn't form the sounds, despite how my lips moved. A numbness had settled over my limbs and it was difficult to even try to speak, so I gave up. The fire would go out soon enough and I could wait.

Through my fog, I could hear a song. Or, really, a piece of a song. It played on a loop over and over until the beautiful voice interrupted it, but the snippets of words I caught made no sense in my jumbled brain.

"...no... dead."

"change... crazy... leaving."

Then it was quiet for a long time before the burning began.


	2. Chapter 2

**Didn't own 'em last chapter, don't own 'em this chapter. A thousand thanks to Cheddah for being an amazing beta for me while LucyLu was unavailable. **

* * *

BPOV. One year later.

Soggy wisps of golden hair that had slipped out from under Rosalie's hat waved in the wind as she started for first base. The wooden bat dropped from her hand and rolled until it bumped against my feet. She was a blur of white skin and pink t-shirt as her foot tagged second base and headed for third. The hit would be a home run. The ball had disappeared in to the trees beyond the field and Emmett would never catch it in time.

"Damn it, Emmett! Run, you big bastard!" Esme's glove clipped Jasper on the side of his head.

"Language," she lectured sternly.

He had the grace to look apologetic as Emmett burst from the woods holding the dingy, slick ball above his head. Greenery and mud plastered his clothes and arms, but his smile was made of victory.

"OUT!" His boisterous laughter filled the field, causing Rosalie to pause at third base. Her pretty features twisted into something malevolent and dangerous.

"You're a liar and a despicable cheat, Emmett Cullen!" Her voice was low and icy.

"'Fraid not, babe." His smile only grew at her growl. Baiting her on purpose was Emmett's favorite game. If you called teasing an angry bear with super strength a game. "It's our turn to bat, so get your pretty ass out on the field." He smacked her hip as he jogged past.

"Wait," Rosalie called out. She smirked at her husband before squatting next to where Alice and I huddled together on the ground, a few feet from the field. She had to tilt Alice's head up to get her attention. "Did you see if Emmett caught the ball?"

Emmett looked at Jasper, nervously shifting from foot to foot in a silly, human-like motion.

Alice stared at our sister, puzzled, before shaking her head, "I'm concentrating on Bella." She cut her murky gray eyes to me and then quickly back down at the ground, drawing patterns blindly against the grass.

Realizing the resident psychic would be no help, Rosalie huffed and picked up the bat. She threw it to Emmett with more force than was necessary.

Since the teams couldn't be even with five people, Esme remained on the pitcher's mound while Rosalie and Carlisle took the outfield. Thunder clapped and lightening tore through the sky, illuminating the dark clouds and thick tree tops. On this mountainous hill, so close to the sky, the stars were bright and clear behind the water filled clouds. According to Alice, the drizzle would pass soon and I would be able to see the constellations .

Alice began to hum softly, her dark hair limp and slightly wavy from the rain. She was the first thing I knew after the pain, the burning that had lasted forever. Time had meant nothing to me then. I couldn't tell night from day or an hour from seconds. Divine coolness would interrupt the fire from time to time, and I only lived to feel it again. When my eyes had finally opened, there was no beating heart in my body, no pulsing organs churning and working. Only a small girl, about fifteen with old eyes, a halo of unruly hair and a smile; in that moment Alice became both mother and Maker to me.

I had been alone in the world, sad and bereft when Alice found me. An orphan, slowly dying of an incurable disease. In a vision, Alice had been called to me as I lay, lonely and painfully slipping away from the world. When I first awoke, I had been startled by the the shiny, white fangs visible between her pink painted lips. She took me and changed me, saved me. She gave me life again and took away the horrible pain that I could now only faintly remember.

My mind can recall waking in Alice's slender arms and every other thing about this life. Anything that came before the fire that burned through my veins was completely lost to me.

Carlisle had worried so much about me in those first few months, fearing as the others had that I would hate the vampiric life. Esme's eyes still teared pink sometimes when she gazed me, no doubt picturing disgust and resentment for them, for her, spreading across my face. It was a completely ridiculous thought.

The best thing in the world that could have happened to anyone, happened to me. I was whisked away from a short life of pain, decay and loneliness, and given eternal life, a family and love. Certainly, as with all good things, there were drawbacks, especially considering our lifestyle.

Unlike the other, more roguish of our kind, my family and I only consumed animal blood. It never fully quenched the thirst, but it worked and it was much simpler than hunting humans. We ate not for pleasure, but for sustenance. Carlisle said it kept us connected to our humanity. I supposed he would know. As the esteemed Dr. Carlisle Cullen, he spent the most time around humans.

Others of my family, especially Jasper, pined at times to feel the sun's rays once more, but I couldn't remember what basking in sunlight had felt like. For me, the sun was nothing to grieve over; it was only a very large, hot star that would burn me to a crisp if I ever encountered it.

I watched my family playing the very human, very American past time and smiled. They were everything to me now.

Esme, a barren mother of five eternal children. She doted on all of us, but me especially. As the youngest and newest vampire, she was constantly watching how often I ate, how much I rested, how well I was developing. There was no one kinder or better than Esme; she was our heart. She kept us together and loving each other, even when we wanted to rip each other apart.

Carlisle, our leader and father. Esme's rock. He was the night shift ER doctor at Forks General. He was the oldest vampire I knew. Calm and deliberate, he carried the burden of protecting our coven and we all respected him deeply. Esme may have been our heart, our mediator, our reason for sticking together, but Carlisle made all that possible. He was our soul. He kept us grounded, human. He reminded us that even the life of a vampire is all about choices.

Emmett and Rosalie, husband and wife, my brother and sister, immortal prankster and eternal pessimist. It was easy to see why Emmett and Rose were drawn to one another. They lived to one-up, to win, to be the very best. Emmett was the most blunt, honest person I had ever encountered. Rosalie was vain and moody, but her heart was good and her love for her family beyond comparison. Emmett was our humor and Rosalie was our realist. She kept us strong and he kept us laughing.

Jasper, Alice's husband and my quiet confidant. Lean and scarred from the Southern Wars, he had been frightening to me at first. He supported his wife unconditionally, devoted to her every whim or thought. He taught me to track and hunt, to feed quickly and cleanly. Ever the strategist, he was my chess partner and the one who always covered our tracks with falsified documents and computer records.

They were everything I had ever known and all I could ever ask for.

Still though, there was an achy hole deep inside my belly. It was constant and it was distracting at times. It made me restless and compelled me to search for something unseen. I could never place my finger on what I needed to be looking for. Blood couldn't quell it, knowledge couldn't soothe it. Sometimes Alice looked at me like she could see right through me, right to the hole and knew what could make it right, but we never, ever spoke of it. I could never let my family know what a viciously ungrateful girl I was, to have the whole world at my fingertips and still not be satisfied.

Rose cheered and Emmett groaned as Jasper struck out. He never could resist Esme's curve balls, but he never hit them either. Can't teach an old vampire new tricks, I thought. As they changed positions again, I looked over to Alice, still lost in her own mind, and thought back to the night I met her.

_"I'm Bella." I meant it as a statement, but looked to the girl beside me for confirmation. She nodded._

_"And a vampire," she said. Leaning in close, she took one of my hands in her own and forced one of my fingers to extend. Gently, she pushed the pad of my finger to one of the fangs protruding from my own mouth. Though I wasn't sure why, the news and the teeth were surprising to me. A part of me knew I had not always been this way, but I couldn't remember not being this way. I couldn't remember anything..._

_"Did you do this to me?" I was freely touching my new, elongated teeth on my own. Despite my own uncertainty about myself, my mind readily accepted what she was telling me._

_She hesitated with a tilt of her head, but shrugged._

_My stomach jerked and I recalled green eyes and pain. I wanted to ask her about this, but the girl was no longer looking at me, her eyes trained on the far wall, squinting a bit._

_"Where am I?"_

_She sighed and refocused on me. "Apologies. I get ahead of myself. My name is Alice Cullen and I'm going to help you. You are in Washington. A place called Forks."_

_"Help me with what?"_

_"With everything."_

_She didn't make much sense to me, but then again, a lot didn't make sense to me at the moment._

_"So, I drink blood?" I frowned down at the mug of warm red liquid she had forced in to my hands._

_"You will. The Cullens drink animal blood. That is bear, from Emmett." She refilled the mug with more lukewarm blood from a thermos. "We will teach you later how to eat properly."_

_"The Cullens?" My brain whirred with all this new information. It was overwhelming yes, but I could easily compute it all in fractions of seconds._

_"Our family."_

_I had a family? Were they my family before Alice did whatever she did to make me like this? I opened my mouth to ask, but she cut me off._

_"No, we only met you a few days ago."_

_I stared. "Can you read minds?"_

_A shake of nearly black hair and her fingers trailed along the seams in the bedspread crumpled by my feet. "I can see past today, into tomorrow."_

_"You're a psychic?"_

_"I am."_

_"Are all vampires psychic?"_

_"No. And not all vampires are as calm as you upon waking."_

_Calm? I didn't feel calm. I felt like I would burst from my skin. So many different urges were bombarding me. There was someone pacing outside the door and I wanted to fling open the door and tear his legs off. I wanted my mug to be filled again, but with something else. Something strong and more pleasing. There was a nagging presence in the back of my mind that I was missing something, something that should always be with me. My eyes kept falling on different things in the room, and becoming entirely distracted in how interesting they were. I could see all the threads woven in to the sheets of the bed I was sitting on. I could see in to the seams where the handle fused to my mug. I wanted to run and jump and pull things apart with my hands. I wanted to find the others in the house that I could smell, the others that were like Alice and I, and know them. I wanted everything all at once._

_"What else?" My smooth fingernails traced each imperfection in my cup._

_"No sun, no sleep, no fire, poison runs through your veins. Your heart is your only true weakness. I can pull your arm off and it will reattach. Age will grant you strength." She smiled. "There is a lot more that you will learn in time."_

_"What will the sun do?"_

_"Dust to dust. It's very painful. Fire, too."_

_It felt like learning everything for the first time, but not really. Not learning, so much as perhaps... understanding? My body knew what she was saying but my conscious was just catching up._

_"Come, meet your family." Alice led me by my hand out the doorway into a hallway painted a warm, off-white shade. Paintings and gray scale photography lined the walls. A beautiful dark wood staircase reached from the the floor we were on down to a second level, another hallway with more art. More steps down to the ground level where five other vampires waited. The living room was large and very airy. The ceilings were high with wood beams criss-crossing over it. One wall was made up almost entirely of windows and the world outside was an inky darkness, lit only by moonlight. Couches and chairs of a soft, brown fabric were arranged in a kind of semi-circle around the large fire place with its pale stone chimney._

_A tall, blue eyed man and a brunette woman stood to face me from the couch they were sitting in. Her hazel eyes were a sharp contrast against her pale face. The man's fingers were lean and graceful and I found myself entranced by them. The way they curled lightly on the hand that hung at his side, the way they twined with the lady's. The nails were shiny and reflected off the light from the harsh, glaring lights from the ceiling._

_"Carlisle and Esme," Alice gestured towards the beautiful couple. "They are the head of our family."_

_Unsure of what to do, I nodded._

_Esme beamed back at me, whispering, "Another daughter, Carlisle." Her eyes were rimmed with pinkish tears._

_Carlisle extended a hand full of beautiful fingers to me. "Come sit down, Bella." His smile was genuine and warm. I couldn't say no to him, so I went to his side and sat down on the far end of the couch. To my great relief, Alice sat at my feet, her back pressed against my legs._

_Across from us was another blonde man who didn't look half as friendly as the first. His face was drawn and tight, covered in small, white scars. He wasn't exactly glaring at me, but he didn't look happy to see me._

_"Jasper." Alice pointed to him. "My husband." She smiled and he smiled back faintly. Even that was frightening._

_There were two others. A voluptuous blonde girl with a face like an angel and the body of a succubus. She, too, looked unhappy. I shied my eyes from her quickly. Next to her was what had to be the largest man ever. Dark curls crowned his brow and his blue eyes stood out starkly against his pale, dimpled face._

_"Rose, be nice. You're scaring her." He elbowed the angel girl and she scowled at him before throwing me a half smile._

_"I'm Emmett," he told me with a big grin. "I caught a bear for you. They're probably the best."_

_"Hi," I waved weakly at all of them, snaking my legs around Alice's waist to rest my feet on her thighs. Her finger tips traced the bones in my foot and ankle. It didn't tickle. Why was it surprising to me that it didn't tickle?_

_"Bella," Carlisle patiently called my attention. "I know Alice can be a bit... difficult to understand. Did you have any questions for us?"_

_We must have sat in that room for a very long time because I soon felt a tug in my chest and looked to Alice. She easily read the fear in my eyes and smiled. "It's just the coming sun. Emmett and Jasper will go fix the windows now."_

_And sure as she spoke, the two rose and began lowering large, metal shutters on all the windows._

_Carlisle had just finished explaining our venom, the substance in our blood that made us vampires, to me. How toxic it was to humans, how healing it was for vampires. It came from our mouths, our eyes, from everywhere._

_"Is... is it normal that I can't remember anything?" My teeth worried my lower lip._

_"Some never remember," Alice said while Esme smiled and stroked my hair._

Beside me, Alice gasped and stared at Carlisle. Or through Carlisle. One could never really tell. I chose not comment. She would speak when she was ready.

I had only given up recovering my memory a few months ago. Jasper refused to look me up in the computer and everyone, even calm, ever-patient Esme, had grown sick of my desire to know.

"It's just one of those things, dear. Leave it be," she had said.

"I once knew another vampire who couldn't remember," Carlisle had told me. "He eventually regained bits and pieces, but not much. You know... your change was very similar to his..." And with that, he had wandered away in to his study.

It was Emmett who finally put a stop to my pestering. "Isabella," he had said, which immediately caught my attention. No one ever called me that. "Eternity is entirely too long for you to ask me the same question over and over again. It kind of makes me want to pull your tongue out."

He'd said it with a smile, which made me pretty sure he was kidding; I stopped asking just in case.

And he was right, our lives were much too long for me to worry over something so trite. So, I buried the questions deep inside and as Esme instructed, let it be.

Sometimes though, I still thought about it. As I lay alone in my room during the day I couldn't help but thinking of the emptiness inside me. The part that constantly longed and called for me to search high and low until I found the thing that could make me whole once more. I wondered if my missing memory could be the thing that would ease this feeling.

Four innings later, with Emmett and Jasper's team in the lead, Esme called the game to an end.

"The sun will be up soon and Bella should eat before we retire."

One moment the clearing was filled with movement and noise, the next it was silent and still and we were rushing through the pines. Emmett dodged to the right almost as soon as we entered the forest and found a herd of deer. He, Rosalie and Jasper brought it down quickly. Alice motioned just ahead of me and I found a mountain lion that had been stalking the deer.

The cat put up a great struggle, but in the end was no match for my strength. I broke its neck and drank quickly. My thirst had been stronger than I thought and Alice must have known that because when I looked up from my lion, she was dropping a large elk next to me with a bloody smile.

After finishing off the elk, I felt sated and lazy. Alice pulled me up and we started hand in hand back to the house. The others had long gone, needing much less blood than me.

"What's in my future, Alice," I finally asked. At times, I felt like a customer at a carnival fortune teller's tent. Madame Alice, the thought made me giggle and feel guilty at the same time. Alice had been far too good to me for me to make fun of something she couldn't change, and probably wouldn't change given the choice. We all owed small bits of happiness, like today's baseball game, and avoiding huge life altering mistakes to Alice's foresight. Usually my Maker's premonitions were a complete surprise to me, but this time felt different. The hole inside of me that normally ached with need was tugging but in a new and different way. It was willing me to move faster, to run towards something. Something good was coming, it said.

She was still frowning, not lifting her eyes from the ground. "The future keeps changing. Someone is traveling to us, but the 'who' keeps changing." Finally she looked up, her old eyes betraying her youth and clouded over with what was to come. "It makes it hard to plan."

I laughed and shook my head. Only Alice would be worried she couldn't plan for unannounced guests. I tugged on her hand and broke out into a run.

"Race me to the field?"

I was probably the fastest in our family, with Esme and Jasper as close seconds, and I loved to run. It made me feel loose and alive to have the verdant greenery rushing past me, the wind filling my ears. It was freeing and wild to run with no inhibitions, no worries.

At her nod, I was off like a shot.

We caught up with the others on the patio behind the house. Rosalie and Emmett had already showered in the outside cubicle and changed in to fresh clothes. The roomy wooden stall that rinsed the blood from us before Esme allowed us in the house reeked of my brother and sister and sex.

"Gross, you guys. You do have a bedroom."

Jasper snickered behind me, scooping Alice in to his arms and letting her climb around to his back.

"And you'd complain more if you had to hear us in our bedroom." Rosalie winked at me. I made gagging noises back at her, drawing a laugh from Emmett.

"We need to find Bella a man. Maybe she'll butt out of everyone's sex lives if she's getting some," he said, waggling his eyebrows in my direction.

Alice growled over Jasper's thick, blonde curls. "That is already set, Emmett. Stop meddling."

I looked questioningly to Alice and she shook her head, motioning for her husband to put her down. "Esme," she took our mother by the hand and moved away from us to speak in whispers as only vampires can. Esme looked ecstatic, Alice looked unhappy. Carlisle joined them after a moment, his face unreadable. My ears strained towards them.

"Stop eavesdropping, Isabella." Esme thrust a warning finger at me without taking her eyes off Alice. Apparently, even death can't stop magic mom knowledge.

I looked at Jasper and he only shrugged. "We'll find out when Alice is ready for us to, I suppose."

He laughed as I began to pout and started pushing me towards the shower stall. I screeched and dug my feet in, trying to push back at him. There was no chance he was going to make me shower in there.

Never one to miss out on the fun, Emmett grabbed me about the waist and tossed me from the patio to the back yard. Dirt and blood was smeared all over his fresh clothes, much to Rose's loud disgust, but he, being Emmett, ignored her and moved down in front of me, slightly crouched.

Ah, it was time for wrestling, was it? Jasper watched from the sidelines of the patio, grinning. He and I had been working on different plans of approach for me to beat Emmett. As the older one, he was already much stronger than I, but Emmett was probably one of the strongest vampires there was. Carlisle theorized it was an extra power bestowed upon him by the change, like Alice's sight. But, as Jasper so lovingly pointed out, strength wasn't everything. I would have to out smart Emmett.

He lunged and I jumped, dancing nimbly out of his path. I watched for every little twitch of his person, anything that would tell me he was about to move again. Once more, Emmett lunged for me but instead of getting out of his way, I stood my ground. Just as his hands reached my shoulders, I grabbed his shirt and fell back, flipping both of us. I landed on top of him and quickly worked to turn him around on his stomach. In that position, I could pull his arms up and back while pressing my knee deeply between his shoulder blades.

Emmett bucked me off and rounded on me again, laughing.

"Go take a shower in my bathroom, Bella." Alice was suddenly in front of me, surprising us both and running her fingers through my tangled hair.

"But," I pointed at the Emmett who looked just as put out as I did. Alice shook her head.

"What about..." This time I directed my finger to the outside shower. Esme never let us inside without at least rinsing off. We had white carpets, after all.

"Go." Alice pointed to the door, her attention focused solely on Jasper now with frown lines creasing her brow.

Grumbling and uncertain, I slipped my shoes off at the door and went upstairs to Alice and Jasper's en-suite bathroom. It was hardly surprising to find fresh clothes for me laid out on their bed. I shed my ruined ones and stepped into the white marble shower stall. Warm water began to fall from the overhead spout at the press of a button. It streaked down my body, catching dirt and blood to run colorful rivers to the drain.

Alice quietly entered the bathroom and sat on the bathmat. I could hear the fibers of the rug rustling as she ran her hands through them. Alice's obsession with touching things was normal to me now. She was constantly stroking fabrics and people, tapping against counters and utensils, or leaning against walls. As if the physical contact was the only thing keeping her from floating away into the recesses of her mind and wandering through visions without ever seeing reality.

I tilted my head to wet my hair and washed while I talked to Alice. "What's going on?"

"Edward is coming home."

"Who?" Edward was a name I'd never heard before, but it caused an odd warmth to rise in my stomach.

"He is Carlisle's first Child." Alice's fingers ghosted over the frosted glass as I tried to shrug off my strange reaction.

"I thought Esme was?"

"Edward, Esme, Rosalie, Emmett."

"Carlisle has a thing for 'E' names, doesn't he?" My attempt at humor fell flat and Alice hummed at me from behind the glass. "How come I've never heard of him?"

"We didn't want to upset you." Her words sent a chill through me, even as the warmth grew.

"Why would Carlisle having another Child upset me?" Honestly, I was a little shaken. It felt like they had been lying to me instead of just neglecting to tell me.

A sob broke from Alice, startling me.

"Get dressed and ask Carlisle."

I heard her getting up to leave.

"Alice, wait! Wait!" Panic doused my veins and I scrambled out of the shower. I caught her arm just at the bedroom door, a towel precariously wrapped around me. "Please, tell me what's going on." My earlier feeling had been wrong. Nothing good was going to happen today. This was all very, very bad.

Alice cupped my face and kissed my cheeks, wetness staining hers. "I can't." She pressed her lips in to a hard line and stroked my face. "Please ask Carlisle."

And she left me standing there, confused and a little frightened.

I dressed in the heather gray wrap dress my Maker had laid out for me; it had navy trim and heels that matched. Esme came in and pulled my hair back into a pretty chignon. She loaned me her sapphire necklace and kissed my cheek.

The rest of the family had changed as well, all adopting a rather casual sophisticated look a lot like mine.

Jasper and Emmett were already getting the windows ready for the day, even though we still had a few hours. I went to help them.

"Thanks. Alice says Edward will be gettin' here just before dawn, so it'll be easier to go ahead get this out of the way." Jasper's arm slipped around my shoulders, his lips at my temple. "And don't worry. We'll all be here with you. You're a Cullen, too."

I buried my face in his shoulder. "Everyone is acting so strangely about this. I really just don't get it."

"Bella?" Carlisle gently pulled me from my brother and asked me to sit with him on the couch. I could tell Alice had left the house. Her scent was here, but not as strongly as it should be. She had left me and it made me even more nervous. My fingers twisted in my lap and I chewed my lip viciously.

"Alice said she told you Edward is coming home."

I nodded.

"This is a very delicate situation. We haven't seen Edward in many, many years. He left us in 1968 and we rarely hear from him."

"What does it have to do with me," I asked as Esme sat down behind me, forcing my lip from between my teeth before stroking my arms in a calming up and down motion. Rosalie sat down on the back of the couch and, in a very un-Rose like gesture, pressed a sad kiss to the top of my head.

"Bella, Edward..." Carlisle faltered for a moment. "Edward is your Maker."

Shock was not the proper word. Neither was surprise or dismay or perplex. Some combination of those with confusion sprinkled on top was what I felt. The warmth, though, grew a little more. It now encompassed my entire torso.

But, Alice said-"

"Alice told you what was best at the time. We didn't know if Edward ever would come home." Carlisle's eyes were weary, the weight of his years showing on his lovely face.

"No. That's not -no! Alice told me. She told me! I was dying! She saved me. She made me!" I stood and looked to Jasper for support. His blue eyes were hard and sad as he silently gazed back at me. My eyes moved to Emmett, who refused to meet my eyes.

"Bella, we didn't know how to tell you..." Esme reached out for me and I backed away.

"She lied? Alice lied? What.. I don't..." I turned in every direction to look at each member of my family, waiting, praying for them to tell me this was all a very mean joke.

It was Jasper who stepped forward. "Alice saw you in a vision. Edward had already changed you, but..." he sighed and ran a hand through his hair, glaring at the wall behind me. "He left. He... I don't know. He left. So, we came and got you. So, yes. You were dying and yes, Alice did save you. Just not in the same way you thought." He looked down at the rug. "We didn't know if he would ever come back. It just seemed like the best thing to do."

"But, then, why? Why am I not with him? Why did he leave?" I began pacing furiously in front of the fire. "She lied. She just... lied to me. You all did." My arms wrapped themselves around my middle.

Emmett and Jasper moved behind the couch with Rosalie and watched me. The silence in the room was choking. My questions needed to be answered. Was I only some orphan ward they took in? What was wrong with me that this Edward didn't want me?

Somehow, though, it felt right. Edward was my Maker. I could faintly recall bright green eyes above me, a dulcet moan in my ear.

"Edward couldn't stay with you. Alice saw-"

"Oh, fuck what Alice saw," I interrupted Jasper. "She's a liar. You're all liars." My movements became jerky and uncoordinated.

"Language," Esme gently reminded me.

Frustration filled me at being unable to even express my anger verbally. This was bullshit. How dare this Edward make me and dump me off on the Cullens! How dare they accept me like a lost puppy, a little pet! No, he couldn't be allowed to come back and ruin this for me. I had a place, a Maker, a family. I was happy, damn it!

"Bella, please calm down." Emmett came around and held his arms out to me for hug. Against my will, I fell against him and cried.

"Please, please don't make me leave with him." My fingers clutched at his shirt, staining it with blood from my eyes.

"Shh, kiddo. No one's going anywhere." He rocked me a bit. "You belong with us."

"We only wanted what was best for you. We never wanted you to hurt." Jasper's normally strong voice was choked and Emmett handed me over to him so he could go change his shirt.

Jasper held me and sat by the fireplace, the flames warming our skin while Carlisle readied himself to go the airport and get Edward. I barely grunted when he asked to take my Aston Martin. Alice returned just as Carlisle left. She sat by Jasper and I, just staring and sniffling quietly. I couldn't even look at her to speak to her.

"It'll be okay, Bella." Jasper's lips moved against my temple in his quite mantra.

In the background I could hear Rosalie complaining to Esme about my being coddled. Esme quickly, but politely told her to shut up. "I can't imagine how hard this must be for her, Rosalie," she said before pulling my sister in to a hug. That was Esme, kind to a fault. Our pain was her pain.

I buried my face in Jasper's chest and felt Alice's hand slip in to mine. Despite the lies and the pain I felt, I knew what Jasper had said was true. Alice would never do anything to hurt me. No matter what else changed tonight, she would always be the one who was there when my eyes first opened, the one who nurtured and took care of me.

Settled by those thoughts, I squeezed her hand and waited to see what Edward's arrival would bring.


End file.
